Xavier Vignon, Cotes du Rhone Villages, Arcane XIX Soleil

Smooth and lots of red fruit, simple expression, good value for the price

2015 vintage

Natural cork. Pnp. Deep mulberry (reddish purple). Long, slow legs. Gobs of crushed purple and black berries, garrigue, char, burnt caramel, warm black loam on the nose. Full bodied, gobs of ripe fruit, blueberries and blackberries, tingly acidity, elevated alcohol, well balanced. Palate follows nose. Tonnes of ripe, crunchy, purple and black fruit, graphite, sandalwood and chalky tannins. Finishes long and tongue-staining. Quite lush!

2015 vintage

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Dominated by Grenache this is a rich and heady bottling from the Arcane range. Ripe and sweet notes of damson, kirsch, raspberry conserve, blackberry, toasty spice, blueberry pie, garrigue herbs and fresh earth are all present in this sumptuous and powerful Rhone red that remains balanced through its forward, pronounced style. At a decade of age it's still quite youthful with fresh acids, gently grainy tannins and purity of fruit. Probably a touch too extracted for me to really love …

Nose of black raspberries, blueberries, milk chocolate, as weird as it sounds: melted plastic and wild berries with an initial hit of pencil shavings. Very odd nose. Tannins start soft but become a bit chalky towards the end of the palate. Acid is moderate to high. Palate of black raspberry, gooseberries, milk thistle tea and graphite. Long finish Day 2: Fruit becomes a dominant sour black cherry and blueberry. Tannins thin out a bit but chalkiness remains

I’m not quite sure why I haven’t tasted this for 4 years?! It is actually still drinking really well. Still a little primary black fruit apparent, still getting liquorice & spice with savoury flavours. On the evidence of today’s tasting this should be good until 2030.

2015 vintage

Very big and voluptuous. Better on the second day.

2015 vintage

The unmistakable aroma of Grenache is somewhat overshadowed by the strong alcohol presence. The wine is rustic and bold, lacking in elegance, and pairs best with hearty foods.

Similar service and profile as my note from 7-15-2024. As others have noted, excellent QPR!

Cote du Rhone on steriods

2015 vintage

An aged Rhone village wine 😲. An inviting bouquet of Mediterranean dried herbs, complemented by notes of iron, smoke, perfume, and enticing cherry aromas. On the palate, it reveals delicious flavours of cherry and raspberry, enriched with a blend of sweet and savoury herbs and a touch of chocolate on the finish. Juicy wine with structure from the tannins, enhancing the overall experience without overshadowing the pleasure of drinking it.

2015 vintage

Medium-intensity ruby/garnet colour. Sweet spice, leather, candied nut, berry compote, and earth nose. Ripe, evolving palate with warm to hot alcohol and sweet-centred flavours; dry, balanced finish. 4/5

2015 vintage

Still drinking well ! Everything in my last review still holds!

2015 vintage

Wow…currents hint of plum, raspberries, blueberries, long finish …thick rich and straightforward

My favorite everyday wine in my cellar right now. Just never get tired of how good this is for the price point. Super solid, shareable wine that never disappoints.

Opened up on day 2. Nice fresh acidic wine.

Dark fruit, high acid, not bad but no particular wow factor

vivino

Lovely Grenache fruit nose and moderately long finish. Drinking well now.

Light bodied and fairly high acid. Dark fruits, baking spices, and a bit of tobacco. Relatively short finish. This worked quite well when paired with a middle eastern chicken and lamb dinner.

Nicolas CanaryWharf - £25

2015 vintage

Soft, cherry, plum, spice. Fruit has mostly faded, unfortunately a little bit of wood bitterness. Very soft though, tannins are quite silky. Would drink up.

2015 vintage

Burgundy style GSM 🤯 Not common thing, earthy notes, dry cherry, light smoked.

2015 vintage

Overall a good weeknight meal night when relaxing. Nothing special nothing bad .. just had nothing to make it stand out.

Decent - after decanting, smooth and food friendly. not super complex, short finish, nothing to rave about, but pleasant and good value for money.

2015 vintage

Drinking really well now. Notes of black and red fruit. Great hints of spice, chocolate, and a savory element. Full bodied with a ton of warmth on the palate. Well balanced & a great example of a rhone GSM.

2015 vintage

Last Tasted 2 and 3 years ago Tasted in zalto bordeaux From coravin The nose: Expression of dark forest berries, wet forest, milk chocolate, oak herbs The palate Silky creamy texture with dark berries. This milk chocolate really strikes through. The wet forest and herbs comes on to. Similar to the nose. Maybe a little Marcipan at the end? Tannins medium Acidity high Body medium I really missed this inexpensive rhone wine, which has to much to offer. Amazing nose, …

70% grenache, 30% syrah from selected parcels in various Côtes du Rhône villages with a diversity of soils: clay, safres (sandy-marl) and trias (limestone-rich clay). Vinified in a combination of vats: Wine Globe, Vinarium, demi-muids, and truncated wooden tanks. Aging: Grenache partly in Vinirium for 24 months, rest in Wind Globe; Syrah in demi-muids and truncated wooden tanks. 15% Abv. Winemaker: Xavier Vignon The Arcane series is the sole expression of a vintage, a grape or a terroir. Each cuvée …

2020 vintage

Fresh red berries and some sweet spices. Opulent Grenache fruit. Fresh acid with medium tannins. Full bodied mostly because of high level of alcohol. Well made but needs complexity to be interesting.

A nose of eucalyptus. Tasting cranberry with nice tannins. Good value at $20.

A great wine right from the bottle. The color is a wonderful garnet. The nose is fairly limited, however, which gave me pause. But never fear. Beautiful red fruit on the palate, including strawberry, cranberry, and raspberry. Tartness that is unobtrusive. It really blossomed with food. Followed up with L'Etoile and appreciated the breadth and depth of the two.

I concur with Erik Snel: this is more than a simple CdR: smooth, complex, nice aftertaste, like a little Chateauneuf. Bottle weight is enormous (901 gram!) which does not make sense and should be forbidden.

2015 vintage

How is this a top-quality wine is beyond me. Cotes du Rhone, but overripe and over-extracted. Seems like people just like 15% abv and it ends there. This is flabby, sweet and undrinkable. Tastes worse than a 7-11 wine.

2015 vintage

Similar service as described in my notes of 11-13-2023 and 9-30-2021. The flavor profile was generally in line with those notes except the fruit profile in both the nose and mouth was even more powerful and this bottle had wonderful acidity and balance.

Good juice, nothing spectacular but drinking well. I'm sure the 15% ABV is helping sustain this N.V. Good acidity with notes of cranberry. Medium finish though not much complexity. I would think this would pair well with gouda and havarti cheese.

Blind tasting. This is an impressive wine. Low price outstranding quality. Round tannin, liqurice and dark berries. Very drinkable now and for at least 5 years is my guess?

2015 vintage

Clear garnet in the glass. Powdery fruit, rose, violet, sour cherry, sandalwood, light herbaceous notes, and dry gravel on the nose. Palate is the same with sharp acidity and slightly grainy tannins. Drank decanted over several hours. Last glass was the best. I'd expect this to easily go another 8-10 years.

I get it, but think it is a little un-exciting for me. it is integrated and smooth, but I don't get a lot of wow from it.

2015 vintage

Deep purple colored with slight staining and high viscosity (15% ABV). The nose has medium intensity aromas of black raspberry, black olives, licorice, blackberry ganache, black cherry, granite and petrichor. The palate is dry with medium (+) acidity, full body and medium tannins. The flavors are quite pronounced- black raspberry, black cherry, blackberry, licorice, charred cedar, olives and that mineral granite note. The finish is long and silky with the tannins slinking away to reveal loads of dark raspberry and …

Consistent with prior tasting. Cherries, lavender, cherry liquor and spices on the nose. Black cherries and loads of fruit. Very smooth and silky.

A concentrated and brooding wine. Deep blueberries and blackberries, almost in jam form, really dominated the glass. The nose was not as expressive as the palate. Really velvety tannins with a little bit of air, I didn’t find it that hot for being a 15% wine. Really enjoyed this wine.

Excellent unpretentious cote de rhone. As before, it's very herbal but it's integrated with the red fruits and chocolate and forest floor. There are bad bottles, we had one or two, but for the most part the wine does not disappoint.

Nasty. Undrinkable.

For me the best Price/Quality red of 2023. Labeled as a Cotes du Rhone Villages, it shows Chateauneuf worthy quality. Responsible for this affordable masterpiece is Xavier Vignon, a highly rated winemaking consultant, flying winedoctor and as a winemaker, using grapes from all over the South Rhone region. As his grapes used are changing every year, his wines also differ in recipe every year. For this Arcade le Soleil there is only 1 vintage: 2015. What a wine. No superpowers, …

2015 vintage

Was a hit at the party.

2015 vintage

Drinks above it's price point. High acidity on opening which dissipates after half an hour in the glass. Suggest decanting for 30-60 min. Smooths out into a well balanced and tasty wine. Flavor profile consistent with previous notes. The 90 score accounts for the price point.

2015 vintage

Plum and inky black fruits, sweet and ripe, done well. Only problem is, it’s too plumy, too sweet, too dark for my taste. Don’t remember the last one being like this.

2015 vintage

Similar positive qualities to recent TNs, but seemed to be fading a bit...though Coravined a solid sample ~4 weeks earlier where I didn't notice it...so always wonder. Quite tasty both times either way, and RTD with a bit of air time.

2015 vintage

Decanted 60 minutes. Inviting aroma of raspberry, blackberry, berry preserves. Cooling stony effect throughout. Mouth-filling with berries, stone, earth, and just a lovely overall minerality that plays well with the fruit, not overpowering it. Still plenty of tannins left, this has years of life ahead of it. Nice finish. Wish I had a few more bottles.

2015 vintage

Excellent wine. Dark berries, earth, licorice, saline and well integrated tannins. Drinks well now and many years ahead I believe?

2015 vintage

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Xavier Vignon, Cotes du Rhone Villages, Arcane XIX Soleil

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